Farewell to TCMParty Member Peggy Tapek

Last night I learned that longtime TCMParty member and my friend Peggy Tapek, known to most TCMPartiers as "Marie just Marie" on Twitter (@d3sk) and later Bluesky (@d3sk.bsky.social), died a few days ago. Peggy had been a part of "Film Twitter" for around 15 years and she numbered among the original TCMParty crowd, "TCMParty" being a collective live posting (originally on Twitter but now on Bluesky) of movies on Turner Classic Movies using the hashtag #TCMParty. Peggy's TCMParty friends meant a good deal to her and, in turn, she meant a lot to us. She was one of the kindest, most supportive people to ever participate in TCMParty.

Peggy was born Margaret Tapek in Michigan. It was not long after her birth that her family moved to Rushville, Indiana. They later moved to Elwood, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis. It was Peggy's mother, who was a fan of  Barbara Stanwyck and Gene Tierney, who introduced her to classic movies. In those days local television stations still showed movies at various times during the week, including late nights and Saturday and Sunday afternoons. She was still a girl when she became a fan of both Bette Davis and the classic "Sherlock Holmes" movies starring Basil Rathbone. Peggy was also a fan of everything from Alfred Hitchcock movies to the classic horror movies from Universal and Hammer to Fred Astaire movies. If anything, her tastes were eclectic. 

In addition to classic movies, Peggy was also a fan of classic television. She may well have been the biggest fan of the British TV show The Avengers I knew aside from myself, and a fan of British television shows in general. She also loved the old classic mystery shows, such as Columbo and Ellery Queen. She loved both the 1966 Batman and The Monkees, as well as the original Star Trek.

Peggy was proud of her boyfriend Bruce, a fellow TCMPartier, and my condolences go out to him. She was also close to many TCMPartiers. She would show concern if any of us were ill or troubled, and she would always applaud us for our accomplishments. I know I will miss discussing The Avengers or the various mystery shows she loved with her. Her passing will certainly leave a hole in the TCMParty that cannot be filled.

TCM Spotlight: Mythology Movies on Wednesdays in July

The skeleton fight from Jason and the Argonauts

As long-time readers already know, the first movie I can remember watching all the way through was the classic Jason and the Argonauts (1963). I have loved mythology and movies based on mythology ever since. It's for that reason I am excited for this month's TCM Spotlight, which is on Mythology Movies. Every Wednesday in July 2025 Turner Classic Movies will be showing movies based on mythology.

Some of these movies, such as the aforementioned Jason and the Argonauts and its fellow Ray Harryhausen film Clash of the Titans (1981), are fairly straightforward adaptations of the myths, with some poetic licence. Others are movies set in later eras, but based on myth nonetheless, such as Pygmalion (1939). Below is a schedule of the films being shown on TCM Spotlight: Mythology Movies. All times are Central.

Wednesday, July 9:
7:00 PM Clash of the Titans (1981)
9:15 PM Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
11:15 PM My Son the Hero (1963)

Thursday, July 10:
1:30 AM The Minotaur (1961)
3:!5 AM: Atlantis, the Lost Continent (1961)

Wednesday, July 16:
7:00 PM Helen of Troy (1956)
9:15 PM Ulysses (1955)
11:00 PM Hercules, Samson & Ulysses (1960)

Thursday, July 17:
12:45 AM: Hercules (1983)
2:30 AM The Colossus of Rhodes (1961)

Wednesday, July 23:
7:00 PM Oedipus Rex (1967)
9:00 PM: Medea (1969)
11:15 PM Electra (1962)

Thursday, July 24:
1:15 AM: Iphigenia (1977)
3:30 AM Damon and Pythias (1962)

Wednesday, July 30:
7:00 PM Down to Earth (1947)
9:00 PM Black Orpheus (1959)
11:00 PM: Phaedra (1962)

Thursday, July 31:
1:15 AM: Pygmalion (1939)

Happy 4th of July 2025

On the 4th of July, as on many holidays, I usually post vintage pin-ups. This time out is a little different. While all of these pictures are of beautiful women, one is a magazine cover. At any rate, I hope all of my fellow Americans have a happy 4th of July, even if this year there seems to be little to celebrate. 

A promotional photo of Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman from the show's first season, which was set during World War II.

Olga San Juan, Noel Neil, and Nancy Porter

Technically not a 4th of July picture, but you can't get much quintessentially American than a drum majorette. This is Theresa Harris in a promotional photo for Love Thy Neighbour (1940), starring Jack Benny, Fred Allen, and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson.

A 1958 cover of the French magazine Cinémondefeaturing the all-American Rita Moreno.

Martha Hyer

And, finally here's Ann Miller and a really big firecracker.

Happy 4th of July!

"Born to Raise Hell" by Cheap Trick

Right now I am in a bad mood and I am certainly not in the mood to make a full-fledged blog post. Here then is a song that fits my current mood, "Born to Raise Hell" by Cheap Trick. It appeared in the classic animated film Rock & Role (1983). 

The Late Great Lalo Schifrin

Lalo Schifrin, the composer best known for the icon theme to Mission: Impossible, died on June 26 2025 at the age of 93. 

Lalo Schifrin was born Boris Claudio Schifrin on June 21 1932 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His father, Luis, was a violinist with the Buenos Aires Philharmonic. He was only six years old when he began to learn the piano. He was 16 years old when his classmates introduced him to jazz, and he quickly became a fan of the genre. At the University of Buenos Aires, he studied music and law. He received a scholarship to the Paris Conservatory of Music in 1952, where he studied classical music under composer Olivier Messiaen. At night he would play in jazz bands.

He returned to Buenos Aires in 1956. There he founded his own jazz band. It was also there that he began composing for TV shows and films.He served as the composer on the Argentinian movie Venga a bailar el rock (1957) and El jefe (1958). It was when jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie was visiting Argentina that he invited him to the United States to work with him. He moved to New York City in 1958 and played piano at a Mexican restaurant until he began work as an arranger with Xavier Cugat. In 1960 he performed with Dizzy Gillespie on the jazz great's album Gillespiana.

It was in 1963 that Lalo Schifrin moved to California to work in film and television. He served as a conductor on the score for the movie Rhino! (1964) and on television he composed and arranged background music for such shows as Dr. Kildare and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. He composed the score for the TV movie Dark Intruder, which aired in 1965. In the Sixties, he composed the themes for the shows Mission: Impossible, T.H.E. Cat, Mannix, and Medical Center. He worked on such films as Who's Minding the Mint (1967), Cool Hand Luke (1967), The President's Analyst (1967), Coogan's Bluff (1968), Bullitt (1968),Hell in the Pacific (1968), Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows! (1968), Che! (1969), Eye of the Cat (1969), Kelly's Heroes (1970), and WUSA (1970).

In the Seventies Lalo Schifrin composed the themes of the TV shows Planet of the Apes, Starsky & Hutch, and Petrocelli. He worked on such movies as The Beguiled (1971), THX 1138 (1971), Dirty Harry (1971),Joe Kidd (1972),Enter the Dragon (1973), Charles Varrick (1973), Magnum Force (1973). Voyage of the Damned (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Rollercoaster(1977), The Cat from Outer Space (1978), The Amityville Horror (1979), Brubaker (1980), and The Competition (1980).

In the Eighties he worked on such films as Caveman (1981), Buddy Buddy (1981), Class of 1984 (1982), The Sting II (1983), Doctor Detroit (1983), The Osterman Weekend, (1983),Sudden Impact (1983), Tank (1984), Bad Medicine (1985), The Fourth Protocol (1987), and The Dead Pool (1988). On television he composed themes for the shows Chicago Story, Glitter. 

In the Nineties Lalo Schifrin worked on such films as F/X2 (1991), Scorpion Spring (1995), Money Talks (1997), Something to Believe In (1998), Tango (1998), and Rush Hour (1998). In the Naughts he worked on such films as Longshot (2001), Bringing Down the House (2003), After the Sunset (2004), and Abominable (2006). In the Teens, he worked on the films Love Story (2011) and Lyset fra sjokoladefabrikken (2020). 

Lalo Schifrin was one of the greatest television and movie composers of all time. He was nominated multiple times for Emmy Awards and Oscars. His compositions are certainly memorable, particularly the theme to Mission: Impossible, which remains one of the best known television show themes of all time. A 2023 list of the "50 Best TV Theme Songs of All Time" fro Consequences of Sound placed it at no. 4. Lalo Schifrin would be remembered if it was the only thing he had ever written, but as it is he wrote so many other pieces of music for television and film.

"Impasse": A Groundbreaking Episode of Medical Center

Positive portrayals of lesbians were unknown in the first few decades of American broadcast television. At worst, they were sometimes portrayed as outright sociopaths, as in the case of Miss Brant (Virginia Christine), a sniper who kills attractive young women out on dates with their boyfriends, in an episode of the short-lived series The Asphalt Jungle (based on the movie of the same name). Although it is never explicitly said that Miss Brant was a lesbian, it was made fairly obvious. At best lesbianism might be presented as a mental disorder, as in the case of the Eleventh Hour episode "What Did She Mean by Good Luck?" and the Bold Ones: The New Doctors episode "A Very Strange Triangle." The Medical Center episode, "Impasse," from 1973, was then revolutionary in featuring a psychiatrist, Dr. Anne Claymor (Lois Nettleton), as both a lesbian and a healthy, well-adjusted human being.

For those of you unfamiliar with Medical Center, it was a medical drama that ran from 1969 to 1975. It centred on surgeons Dr. Paul Locher (James Daly) and Dr. Joe Gannon (Chad Everett) at an unnamed hospital (the "medical centre" of the title) in Los Angeles. "Impasse" starred Lois Nettleton as Dr. Anne Claymor, a psychiatrist who is called into treat a a young heart patient, Tobi (Jamie Smith-Jackson), who is proving difficult. Dr. Gannon has a crush on Dr. Claymor, and it is after Tobi's boyfriend Sam (Tim Matheson) tells Dr. Gannon that Dr. Claymor is a lesbian. That leads Dr. Gannon to visit Dr. Claymore in her apartment where she admits that she is a lesbian.

This particular scene is remarkable for a TV show episode airing in 1973 (if you want to see it, it si available on YouTube). It is made clear that Dr. Claymor is comfortable with her lesbianism, as she deals with the stereotypes Dr. Gannon, like many Americans at the time, believed to be true, No, she does not hate men. Yes, a lesbian doctor can treat a young woman without pouncing on her. At no point in the episode is lesbianism presented as a mental disorder, although the fact that it was still frowned upon in society was acknowledged.

At the time, when homosexuality was still presented as a mental disorder on most American television shows and was still listed as such in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders used by the American Psychiatric Association, "Impasse" was revolutionary in its portrayal of Dr. Claymor. In his book Alternate Channels - LGBTQ Images on Television, author Steve Capsuto refers to Dr. Claymor in "Impasse" as "...American TV’s first productive, happy lesbian character." Following "Impasse" there would still be shows on which homosexuality was presented as a mental disorder and homosexuals as sociopaths, but it was definitely a step in the right direction. 

"Stonewall Nation" by Madeline Davis

Chances are good that you have not heard of the song "Stonewall Nation" by Madeline Davis (I must confess that I had not until relatively recently),: but it is is historic nonetheless. Quite simply, it has been called the first gay liberation anthem. It was written by Madeline Davis after she had attended her first march on the New York capitol in Albany, New York. 

Of course, the song's title will have some significance for those who know their history. It was from June 28 1969 to July 1 1969 that spontaneous demonstrations against  a police raid (commonly called the "Stonewall riots") took place form June 28 1969 to July 3 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in New York City. The Stonewall uprising is commonly regarded as the starting point for the gay liberation movement. For many in the LGBTQ community in the Seventies, the phrase "Stonewall Nation" may have had even more significance. The name "Stonewall Nation" was given informally to a separatist community proposed in Alpine County, California in 1970. 

As to the song itself, "Stonewall Nation" seems somewhat reminiscent of the folk music of the time, namely the work of such artists as Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, and Buffy Sainte-Marie. I do not find it particularly listenable, but the song is historic nonetheless.